The Cavatina Duo’s new album explores Romani musical traditions and themes of migration, resilience and cultural adaptation through five premiere recordings. Rather than simply interpreting folk melodies, flautist Eugenia Moliner and guitarist Denis Azabagić commissioned original compositions that thoughtfully bridge Western classical influences with the rich heritage of the Romani diaspora and brought on board the Pacifica Quartet to record them. Throughout, the pleasure the players seem to be feeling is contagious.

Stacy Garrop’s Romani Songs, performed with cellist Brandon Vamos, have a compelling universality that transcends cultural boundaries, enhanced by Moliner’s occasionally wavering tone that captures authentic folk sensibilities. Sérgio Assad’s Contos Ciganos, featuring violinist Simin Ganatra, sports angular phrases and catchy themes from the Punjab to north-eastern Brazil interrupted by brilliant cadenzas. Clarice Assad’s Four Scenes, performed with the full quartet, shows the most assured command and varied imagination of the collection, masterfully portraying the Romani experience of movement and instability.

In the works for the duo alone, Matthew Dunne’s amiable and frequently cool Three Artisans showcases Moliner’s lyrical lower register before culminating in an expressive final solo. Atanas Ourkouzounov’s Raga Ibriama creates a beguiling atmosphere with faint violin harmonics and entrancing flute melodies, featuring a dramatic moment of silence at its centre before building to an intoxicated finale.

The ambient warmth of the recording, made in Auer Hall at Indiana University Bloomington, adds to the enjoyment, while Kai Christiansen’s booklet focuses on Tony Gatlif’s 1993 documentary Latcho Drom, which traces ‘the brightly etched lines of Gypsy music flowing from East to West in a veritable River of Fire’.